Creative Business: The Making of Addictive Stories

177 Pages·2003·0.73 MB·English

by  Paul Nero

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C R E A T I V E B U S I N E S S
The making of addictive stories
PAUL NERO
NEETA PATEL
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
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Website: www.business-minds.com
First published in Great Britain in 2003
© Pearson Education Limited 2003
The right of Paul Nero and Neeta Patel to be identified as authors of this work
has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
ISBN: 0 273 65671 6
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
An awful lot of evenings in front of the television, nights at the
cinema and days filled listening to music have gone into the produc-
tion of this book. So have some serious thinking and much discussion
with practitioners of creative businesses. Those with whom we spoke had
great stories to tell, and we trust we have transferred their insights faithfully.
The book was conceived as dotcom mania spluttered its dying breath, and
integration of new media businesses with older, wiser parents intensified.
Consensus about the future among our contributors was rare, and everyone
had a new perspective to offer. We hope the stories that follow provide an
entertaining and informative read.
Our grateful thanks to those people who agreed to be interviewed and
gave freely of their time – Andy Anson and David Brook at Channel 4, Ralph
Ardill at Imagination, Linda Aspey of Aspey Associates, Professor Patrick
Barwise at London Business School, John Conway, Richard Fell and Ashley
Highfield at the BBC, Simon Cooper at GWR, John Cummings at Hawkpoint
Partners, Greg Delaney at advertising agency Delaney Lund Knox Warren,
Andy Harries at Granada Television, David Docherty at Telewest, James Harding
at the Financial Times, Professor Clive Holtham of the Cass Business School,
City University, John Hollar at Pearson Broadband, Jonathan Morris, Brendan
Nelson, Dame Marjorie Scardino at Pearson plc, Simon Terrington and Richard
Burnett at media consultancy Human Capital, and Theresa Wise at Accenture.
Tom Hazledine knocked out transcripts, checked out facts and pointed out the
perspective of youth, while Paul Waddington kindly gave the manuscript the
once-over and defended art-house buffs.
We would also like to record our appreciation of Peter Martin who, at the
time we interviewed him for this book, was deputy editor of the Financial
Times. Peter had also been our colleague at FT.com: an outstanding man with
an incisive, creative mind, a ready wit and many kindly words. Shortly before
this book went to print, Peter died. He was a whirlwind, and we can’t believe
he’s gone.
We also extend our gratitude to publisher Rachael Stock at Pearson
Education for having faith in the concept, even when ours faltered, returning
us to a positive outlook in the finest traditions of publishing in a West End bar.
Acknowledgements v
Finally, an apology for any mistakes or misrepresentations that may have
inadvertently escaped our notice and made it to print – and to those around us
who have suffered many months of grumbling, whining and gnashing of teeth
as these words finally came together. Thank you all.
Paul Nero
Neeta Patel
London
September 2002
CONTENTS
1 PROLOGUE: THE WORLD OF
ADDICTIVE STORIES 1
2 THE STORYTELLERS 9
3 MAKING HITS 33
4 MAKING IT REAL: DRAMA AND
INTERACTION 61
5 FINDING THE AUDIENCE 87
6 FORMULAIC AND ORIGINALITY:
THE TENSIONS WITHIN 111
7 DISTRIBUTION MAKES CONTENT PAY 133
EPILOGUE 153
FURTHER READING 157
INDEX 159
Contents vii

P R O L O G U E : T H E WO R L D 1
O F A D D I C T I V E S TO R I E S
Sticky stories of old 3
1